


Being a Kage

by Realta (Daniele)



Series: Tumblr Short Stories [4]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Angst, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, minor character death (past)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-07
Updated: 2016-03-07
Packaged: 2018-05-25 08:56:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 657
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6188239
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Daniele/pseuds/Realta
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Being Hokage is hard.</p>
<p>That's another aspect of Naruto which Gaara can really understand.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Being a Kage

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Maitimiel](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Maitimiel/gifts).



As a new Hokage, a lot of his firsts were hard.

But this was the hardest first he had experienced so far. The first time he sent a genin team to their deaths because of intelligence errors.

It felt acutely like his fault. On hindsight, he could find a million errors on the mission request if he squinted hard enough. The rational part of his mind knew that this level of scrutiny of every single mission was impossible for him alone, that he had an entire team that should be held responsible. Still, it felt like it was his fault alone.

He had trudged on through the workday after the report of their deaths, and as soon as the clock announced time to go home, he left to one of the places that comforted him the most in Konoha. His dad’s sculpture. He wanted to ask him advice, but he was just too worn out to ask anything. He just sat there and stared at Konoha, feeling like the buildings were accusing him of being the worst Hokage they ever had.

Only when he felt grains of sand on the wind brushing against his skin did he remember he had had a date with Gaara, and he had just stood his boyfriend up.

It took effort, but he turned around and forced a smile. “…Sorry, Gaara. I…”

Gaara looked calm and serious as he walked up to him, knelt by his side and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. Then, he looked into his eyes, the green darker with sorrow. “I know.”

He didn’t know if it was the depth of feeling in Gaara’s eyes, or the amount of understanding those two words managed to carry across. Naruto’s eyes filled with tears so fast that he could barely see Gaara anymore.

“I…” he tried to say, but only a sob escaped his lips. Gaara’s expression softened, and he reached up to gently catch some of his tears with his fingers. Naruto took a shaky breath. “This shouldn’t have happened. I could have…”

“As a Kage, you’re still a man, Naruto.” Gaara’s voice was gentle but sure. “You’re not omniscient. You’re not omnipotent.” Naruto squeezed his eyes shut. “You can’t turn back time.”

“I could have…” he tried again.

“You still can.” Gaara interrupted him as softly. “Learn from your mistakes and better yourself as a Kage. Don’t let those mistakes make you believe you’re anything less than the great man you truly are.”

Those words broke him. Naruto turned around and buried his face on Gaara’s chest as he sobbed, gripping his shirt tightly as if it was the only thing keeping him from tumbling off a precipice. Gaara wrapped his arms around him, and he felt safer in his firm hold.

He felt loved as Gaara’s soft voice whispered words of comfort against his ear, not once telling him everything was fine, not once telling him it would never happen again. Gaara just reminded him of all the lessons he had learned from Naruto himself, of all he had accomplished as Kazekage by following Naruto’s beliefs.

When there were no more tears for him to shed, Naruto just lied against Gaara’s chest, safely held in his lap. “What did you do…? The first time it happened?” Naruto whispered quietly, after Gaara had gone silent. He knew for a fact Gaara hadn’t sought people’s comfort back in his teen years.

“I closed my eyes and thought of you. Your words reminded me I had a duty, that I needed to correct my mistakes and go on.” Naruto shook inside his arms, still caught off guard by Gaara’s words, by his love, even if he shouldn’t be by now.

“I love you.” he said heartfelt, feeling the sudden need to remind Gaara his love was reciprocated. Gaara’s lips turned into a beautiful smile.

“I know.” he leaned in and kissed his temple. “I love you too, Naruto.”


End file.
